WASHINGTON — The Soviet Union this week will launch monkeys, newts and other animals aboard a ''space zoo'' satellite that offers U.S. researchers their first chance to conduct life sciences experiments in space since the shuttle Challenger accident.

The animals, to be launched on a small Soviet rocket today or Wednesday, will provide data about the effects of weightlessness and the space radiation on living tissues for 27 U.S.-Soviet experiments.

Although dependence on the Soviets for a ride into space could be perceived as an embarassment for the grounded U.S. program, NASA and other U.S. officials say they are feeling none of that.

''I don't see any bad (in this) at all,'' said Marcia Smith, a U.S. expert on the Soviet space program. ''I see this as an example of how cooperation can help everyone.''

Said Larry Chambers, program manager at NASA headquarters: ''This is a golden opportunity . . . to get some important results.''

He noted the Soviets also would benefit because ''the United States has the advantage of a much more sophisticated analysis capability.''

The U.S. studies primarily concern the effects of weightlessness on rat and monkey tissues, information that could be used to help humans adapt better to life aboard a space station or during longterm moon and Mars missions.

U.S. scientists will coordinate each of the experiments with Soviet scientist counterparts, and the results will be published within a year, Chambers said.

Life science experiments in space have been particularly backlogged since the Jan. 28, 1986 Challenger accident ended regular shuttle missions. While other scientists have been able to conduct limited research using small sounding rockets, life science researchers have had no other access to space although their studies are critical as NASA prepares for the occupation of a space station in the 1990s.

The international Cosmos Biosatellite Mission, which also includes experiments from the European Space Agency and socialist countries, is the first joint project conducted under a five-year U.S.-Soviet cooperation treaty signed in the spring.

However, the United States has joined with the Soviets for several previous Biosat missions, the most recent in July 1985.

For the upcoming two-week flight, the Soviets will launch two live rhesus monkeys, 10 rats, newts, fish eggs and other tiny creatures inside an 8-foot spherical satellite that was modified from an old model manned capsule, Chambers said.

The capsule will parachute to a Siberian landing site and then the rats will be ''sacrificed'' so tissues can be distributed for scientists' examination, he said. The monkeys will not be killed, and the fate of the other organisms is unknown.

U.S. researchers have established three laboratories in Moscow to perform some preliminary work on the tissues before they are brought to the United States for detailed study, Chambers said.

Along with the animal studies, one U.S. scientist is conducting three Biosat experiments involving measurements of space radiation inside and outside the satellite capsule.

Those studies could help with the design of protective spacesuits and future spacecraft, Chambers said.

As this flight gets under way, the United States now is starting plans for 1989 and 1991 Biosat missions in which the United States is expected to become more involved in supplying experiment hardware, Chambers said.

The space cooperation treaty, signed by Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze in April, also calls for cooperation in several other areas of biological and medical research. Included are studies on the possibility of life on other planets.

Although relations between the United States and Soviet Union have fluctuated between cold and warm during the 1980s, the individual relationships between scientists have remained strong, experts said.

Officials are hoping the latest round of joint experiments will help pave the way for larger scale cooperative missions in the coming decades, most importantly unmanned or manned flights to Mars.

''The climate today is very good, very positive, for improved cooperation between our countries,'' Smith said. But she noted that the situation could change quickly with world events.

''Who knows what could happen by 1989 when the next one of these Biosats goes?''